AFC Championship Preview

by Vinaik Gautam, Columnist

20 January, 2018

The Finish Line is in sight! Tomorrow, the New England Patriots will face off against the Jacksonville Jaguars and the winner gets their tickets booked to Minnesota to play in Super Bowl LII. The Patriots are coming off an impressive win against the Tennessee Titans and now are facing another AFC South team that is ready for the task at hand. The Jaguars were able to handily beat the favored Pittsburgh Steelers in Pittsburgh 45-42. Obviously, the main matchup to look for in this game is the Jaguar defense and the Patriot offense. The defense of the Jaguars has been stellar all season and that is mainly due to the excellent coaching by Head of Football Operations Tom Coughlin, who was ousted the Patriots twice in the Super Bowl as the coach for the New York Giants. The main reason why the Jaguars defense is so formidable is because they have excellent players at each defensive position. They only need to rush four players in order to disrupt offensive line and get to the quarterback. They also have a Pro-Bowl cornerback in Jalen Ramsey who has become one of the best shut down corners in the game. In order for the Patriots to win this mathcup, they need to keep QB Tom Brady upright and not let him be sacked repeatedly. Tom Brady is at his best when he is given time in the pocket but he seems to be less effective if he gets hit on a consistent basis. Additionally, the Patriots will also have to get TE Rob Gronkowski involved as much as possible to win this game. The defense of the Jaguars has no one as big as Gronk and he can really give the Patriots an edge if they get him the ball early on in the game. As for the Patriot defense, they will need to keep QB Blake Bortles in check at the end of the game. While Bortles is not one of the premiere quarterbacks in the NFL, we have seen him consistently come up in the clutch in end game situations this season. The Patriot defense will have to limit his big plays in the fourth quarter to ensure a Patriot victory. Overall, I think that this game will be very interesting and I hope for a nail biting finish!